Mike McCoy knew he was only taking a short trip to San Diego, but he went ahead and packed a large bag for the flight from Denver to southern California anyway. Everything in it was crucial for McCoy, the former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator, to make his pitch for to be the new head coach of the San Diego Chargers.

"They all laughed at me when I walked in yesterday with this big old bag with books and binders and everything," McCoy said. "Well, that's my life's work."

Those binders full of detailed plans — covering everything from offseason workout schedules to meal plans — won over Chargers president Dean Spanos and new general manager Tom Telesco.

McCoy, 40, was the last of five candidates to interview for the Chargers' head coaching job. Both parties knew Monday night McCoy was the right person to succeed Norv Turner, but McCoy hopped a plane back to Denver anyway. He knew that if he didn't return home to talk it through with his wife, Kellie, he would "be in big trouble."

It ended up being an easy sell. The McCoy family spent the Broncos' bye week in 2011 in San Diego and took their son and daughter to Sea World. McCoy has kept a picture of his kids posing with dolphins in his office at Broncos headquarters since.

"I mentioned to her last night, 'Remember this great day we had? That's where we're going,'" McCoy said." She had no hesitation, and the kids, too. Once they saw that, remembered that great weekend we spent here last year, it's going to be an easy transition."

With his family's blessing, McCoy went to the Broncos training facility to pack up some belongings and tell head coach John Fox he was leaving. A short time later, the whole family was on a plane back to San Diego, where McCoy was formally introduced Tuesday afternoon.

"This is the opportunity of a lifetime," McCoy said.

McCoy also interviewed last weekend with the Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals. He didn't have any contact with the Chargers until after the Broncos' loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, but both sides moved quickly.

McCoy didn't know Telesco before the job interview began Monday, but he was quite familiar with the Chargers after coaching against them eight times in the past four years.

"The foundation is in place here to build a winner for a long time," McCoy said.

That nucleus starts with quarterback Philip Rivers.

McCoy emerged as a hot head coaching candidate in 2011 after the work he did in retooling Denver's offense midseason to fit the unorthodox skills of Tim Tebow. In 2012, McCoy showed flexibility as he once again tailored the offense to Peyton Manning.

McCoy said Rivers will have input in the Chargers' new offensive system, just don't expect it to include much of the read-option plays designed for Tebow.

"I thought you were going to ask me if Philip wanted to run the option. He did ask me about that," McCoy said, laughing.

McCoy said he will hire an offensive coordinator who will call plays, a change from Turner, who handled those duties in addition to his head coaching responsibilities. McCoy and Telesco will meet with other Chargers assistant coaches who remain under contract, including defensive coordinator John Pagano, to determine who will stay.

"There's reason for change, and change is good sometimes in organizations," McCoy said.